Its the last day of the year.  I am going to a friends house for New Years Eve but wanted to get my workout in before I left. I took a 1.2 mile walk with my sister.  Rick has said he really doesn't think I should continue with the 3 half marathon's because of health issues. The risk of injury is to great expecially since the prednisone has made me gain about 17lbs.  My mom emailed Ms. Earle to see if we can schedule a meeting with the committee. We have to get this figured out so I can know what i'm going to do.

I emailed my mentor, to see what he thinks i should be doing to get going and told him we still haven't heard from Ms. Earle and/or the committee as to whether I can change to 5k's.  we'll see what he says I should do to get started again. I did not run/walk today. I worked at Look Up Lodge painting.

I did not walk or run today I had basketball and I'm still not sure what I should do about my workouts when I have basketball. I had asked my mentor but with all the other stuff we have been talking about, we always forget to come back to that questions.  We do a lot of short distance running in basketball but I usually have to sit out some of it, because it makes me feel sick.  The coach says I'm doing good but I need to get in better shape. I need to talk to Rick again about how I should train when I have practice and/or games. I'll email him and to let him know that I guess at this point we better go ahead and say I'm gonna run the 3 half marathons, the doctor said if I felt ok I could run i'm just not sure if I can run that much and get 3 half marathons done in three months.

Today I woke up this morning and I was broken out again. I took the amount of prednisone  the doctor told me to take as well as my other medications. Even though I was not feeling well,  I walked about a another 1.2 miles just to get my heart rate going again. I slept till 12:30 this morning and I didn't eat lunch but for dinner I had turkey dressing and gravy.

Because I have started to break out again with my hives, we have rescheduled my allergist appoint (originally scheduled for Jan. 5th) to today.  I have been taking the Prednisone like the doctor prescribed (10mg everyday) along with 2 claritin, and the 2 Hydroxyzine at night.   Unfortunately, I have been broken out each morning when I wake up.  It isn't all over my body but is on my arms, shoulders and sometimes my feet.  I'm really sick of all this.  I'm ready to get on with my senior year and with my basketball and training.
The doctor said that we should continue to take 10mg. of Prednisone everyday for a week, continue the 2 Claritin everyday, add the 2 Zyrtec back in at lunch time and then use the Hydroxyzine as  needed (up to 6 per day) to help control the outbreaks.  He said that we are going to have to inidate the body with the antihistamines to try to get whatever this is under control.  After a week, we are going to alternate the Prednisone 10 mg one day, then 5mg the next. We will do that for another week along with all the above listed meds, then the following week we will go to 10 mg one day and then one day off still with all the other meds.  Then if  there are no break outs the next week we will go to 5mg one day and the next day off with all other meds.  The Hydroxyzine is the medicine that we can play with in regards to dosage when I'm breaking out (up to a certain amount)   If at anytime I begin to break out and can't control it with the Hydroxyzine I'm suppose to go back up in dosage of the prednisone that I was previously good at.

After my mom emailed Ms. Earle to talk about Rick's thoughts on whether I could actually get in the proper training and finish three marathons in the  amount of time we have left. Rick, my trainer, had stated that based on the doctors recommendation of not over doing the running, and the fact that I'm on so much medication perhaps we should consider trying to complete 4 or 5   5-K's instead of 3 half marathons.  Ms. Earle does not think the committee will agree to that and she but she has forwarded them the emails from Rick.  We wanted to find out for sure whether I would be at serious health risk if I begin my  running training again.  We explained to the doctor that this was a senior project and we really needed to train but of course did not want to put me as risk health wise.  He said I should be fine as long as  I felt okay.  The steroids shouldn't harm me as an athlete, they will and have increased my appetite a lot. ( As a matter of fact, I weighted 237lbs today).  This added weight over the last 2 months has made me a little more sluggish and less limber. It makes me hold water weight as well.  The doctor recommended trying to eat less even though my appetite is greater.  I have been trying to eat healthier like Rick has recommended in his book too.  So, I guess that means I've been given the doctors clearance to go ahead and train, I just need to talk to Rick again to see if he thinks I can safely train and run three half marathons by the end of March.  I doubt the committee will allow me to change the project now.  We'll see.

In the meantime while we work out the details of what I'm actually going to be training for, I started working out again today. I did not want to kill myself by over doing it, so I simply walked at a brisk pace 1.25 miles. It felt good to do a little more cardio.

It getting real close to Christmas and I am going to take a short break of all this stuff and try to enjoy time with my family. I've ran today and I am going to continue to eat correctly over this short break. Merry Christmas everyone!

It is getting close to Christmas but I am still going on. It is very cold outside and my gym membership just ran out so a am trying to find places to run in. Eating is becoming harder to do because I love the food around Christmas time. I'm just going to keep going and and try my best to do everything I have said I've said i'll do.

Another follow appt. with the allergist. My mom is very frustrated that I'm still on the prednisone and they can't seem to help us know when I can come off it. I have broken out several times lately. The doctor said to go back to 10mg for a week then alternate 10mg and 5mg everyday then 10mg everyday then a day off until we come back in on Jan. 5th.  Still taking all the other meds.  With the break outs still occurring I haven't been running just working out at basketball. I don't know what to do.

Getting back in the swing of things

I haven't blogged in a while and I have needed to. I am going to meat with  Rick sometime soon  and get back to running since I have been sick.  I have good days and bad days.  I'm still taking the medications and trying to play basketball and work out /run/walk when I can.  I have mostly not had any breakouts but I have still been taking my medications. If I forget even one dose i seem to break out.  I had really hoped that whatever was causing the hives would have been gone by now.  I go back to the doctor in a couple of days. I don't know what they are going to say, I know they can not do the allergy testing until I'm off all the medications.

 I am still feeling bad but I am trying to run and work out through it anyway. I'm still eating well in the hope that it helps whatever problem I have with allergies. I am going to keep it going and hope for the best.

After a great day a couple of days ago I am now back in a slump. I worked out the last couple of days and it went very well but today I just fell like crap. It should go away in a little bit. Well at least I hope it does but you never know with this kind of stuff. I wish it would just go away.

I feeling better today so I ran 2 miles or so and also I had some protein shakes today. I have been very energetic today and I will probably work out a little later just to improve strength training. Just gotta keep going.

I have been running/walking when I can but it has still been hard because all of these breakouts that I've had. I have been eating well and have been working out when I don't feel awful because of this condition that I have gone through.

Went to basketball practice today.  We ran and did drills.  I really get a workout when i practice and hope that this workout is good enough to help me with my marathon trainings since I can't do both I just don't have the energy.  I need to talk to Rick again about what my work outs should be when I have games and practices.  Also about when I should schedule my first race.  Everything has been messed up since I've been sick and not really able to keep our original workout plan.

Hives still stay gone as long as i'm on the prednisone. I guess I've been on it since the end of Oct. now.  I have not been running as everytime I start to feel better and begin running I break out. I don't think it is the running I think it is when I come off the prednisone but I don't know.  I played in part of the game last night but was very sore today.  I did go to the gym to work out.  I lifted some weights which was on my workout plan and walked a little.

We talked to the allergist about the blood work at our appt. he said there were a few things we may follow up with after we get the hives under control. Nothing looked high or low enough to do anything right now.  We told him I broke out again when I stopped the prednisone and he said we will just have to stay on it longer and keep the antihistamines in my body as well (claritin, hydroxyzine, zyrtec). He put me on prednisone 20mg for 3 days, then 20mg one day and 10mg the next for 1 week, then 10mg everyday until we see him again on Dec. 13t. continue the other meds as well.

I have a game tonight.  I'm not sure how much I'll play but I will dress out. The coach knows I'm not 100% right now.

Because I have taken the prednisone the hives went away again. My mom scheduled an appt. with the allergist for Tuesday. I had a field trip with my Service Learning class to the operation Christmas child warehouse. We had a great time and I felt ok.  I did not go to basketball practice today  until I go back to the doctor. My mom is worried about me working out and playing basketball.

Last night right before I went to bed, I started breaking out again.  My mom had some prednisone left and went ahead and gave me some even though I was suppose to be off of it.  Since the doctors office is closed for Thanksgiving she didn't want the hives to come back all the way. We will have to call the doctor back and see what we need to do sine they came back again.  I don't know what is going on. I am tired and irritated I don't feel like doing anything.

Today is Thanksgiving day,   I was out of school all last week as my body adjusted to all the medication.  I slept most of the first few days with all the hydroxyzine in my body.  I haven't been as sleepy since I cut the hydroxyzine dose down to 2 at night instead of 6 everyday. The doctor said I could do that if the hives went away.  I feel good and look forward to getting back to my active self.  Of course, I ate a lot of food today and I haven't run or played much  basketball during this past week.

We got a copy of the blood work in the mail today.  I guess everything is okay. A couple of things were high and we will have to talk to the doctor about those things when we go back.

Alkalline Phosphatase was low
Iron Serum was Low
Thyroid Peroxidase was high
Antithyroglobulin was high
White Blood Count was high
Red Blood Count was a little high
Hemoglobin was high
Hematocrit was high

Neutrophils was high

The office called and said nothing was extremely high and we could talk to the doctor about it on our next visit.

 I finally talked my mom and dad into letting me dress out tonight.  the hives are gone again with the medication and my team really needed me.   The coach played me a little  My body is really out of shape and I can not believe how achy I feel.  I'm not sure if its the medicine or soreness from playing ball.  I tried to stretch more than usual.   I guess I'll just have to go slow while i'm trying to.get back into working out running. I'm still taking my medicine, prednisone, claritin,  and hydroxyzine but I forget my zyrtec most days because it's suppose be taken at lunch time.  So far no more break outs I hope it stays gone this time.

I was able to go back to school today.  I wasn't very sleepy  but I will not be able to play in our first basketball game today. I will be there to support my team but I will not be able to play.    I'm not sure when I will be able to play  since I keep having problems and since I haven't been practicing but its my senior year and I really want to play.  I do not think I will run today, Im not really sure where to start or how much to do  so since I've not been doing much I don't want to over do it. I am so ready to get running and working out again.

Today I went to the allergist. Of course they asked many of the same questions, any change in diet, any change in laundry det, any change in shampoos, soaps etc.  They say we will have to do allergy testing but the first thing is to get the hives under control.  He has put me on 8 days of Prednisone and told me to take 2 claritin every morning, 2 zyrtec every day at lunch, and 2 Hydroxyzine 3 times a day.  He has given me a doctors note for school for the whole week because he said all of this medicine will make me very sleepy.

They also took a lot of blood. I usually do ok when they take blood but today I almost passed out.  They had to lay me down for a while. My blood pressure was very low for a while.  They took blood because the doctor wants to make sure something else isn't going on, like some type of infection or something else.  I will not be able to run or do basketball this week. We told the doctor I had been training (running) for a half marathon and trying to play basketball.  He asked if either of those things seemed to cause the hives to break out, we told him we did not think so but that it's hard to tell what was causing it. He said sometimes, over excursion or over heating can trigger break outs as well as stress, or an allergic reaction to a food or substance you come in contact with.  His first reaction to the training for the half marathon was that it might have to be put off until next year.  Then we explained to him that the senior project was a mandatory project for graduation and he said well then, I recommend to limit the running to  minimal and not to over do it with basketball until we figure out what is going on. I can not do any exercise this week, but he said I would not feel like it anyway, I would be sleeping mostly.

Doctor

 I finished my medicine (Prednisone) on Friday and felt okay.  But on Saturday night I started feeling itchy and achy again.  Today I went to the doctor, I was suppose to go to the allergist on Thursday (Nov. 17th) but since my hives are back we tried to get it moved to today.  They couldn't see me today (earliest is tomorrow) so mom scheduled an appointment with the regular doctor because I was miserable. I am all broken out again and my mom was afraid I was going to end back up in the ER. The doctor gave me another prescription for Prednisone but told my mom it would be best if we could let the allergist actually see the hives. So we decided to try to not take the Prednisone. It was long night and I was very itchy and did not get much sleep. My mom stayed  up and watched me most of the night because she was afraid my lip would start swelling again.  I am not sure when I am going to begin to work out again but I doubt it will be soon if this rash keeps coming back.

I was really feeling  bad today. My rash is back and my heart is racing. It has been racing a lot when I run and Rick even changed my zones for my heart rate because it has been a lot higher than what he thought in the  recommended zones.  I was very irritated all afternoon and fidgety.  I have also been very achy today.  I hate these hives, I don't know what is going on.  My mom was very worried about my heart rate and took me to CVS at 10:00 to check my blood pressure. It was very high 154/96  she talked to the pharmacist which said that was high but that sometimes prednisone will make it high.  He asked if it had been high like that a lot and we told him not this bad or at least we did not notice it to be.  My mom will try to get me another doctors appt. tomorrow.  We are suppose to see the allergist on Thursday.  I guess I will not go to school tomorrow either or  be able to run or play basketball.

The last couple of days I have been running accept for today. Today I had an off day, that wasn't really an off day because we ran at basketball. This week has been very long and tiring. I'm ready for the week end to get more rest. The medicine has been working and the hives are gone. We still do not know what has caused them.  I feel pretty good when they are gone but a little sluggish this week probably because I'm doing basketball and running.

Well I woke up this morning with my hives all over me again.  My mom took me to the doctor again and we saw a different one.  She gave me a prescription for more Prednisone, this time for 5 days instead of 3.  She also referred us to an allergy specialist.  They will call us when they have that schedule. I hope this medicine makes it go away for good this time.  I don't feel like running or anything when i'm all itchy and I'm sore all over.

Well after going to the doctor for a follow up on Wednesday, my hives were gone and I was starting to feel better.  Thursday was an off running day and Rick told me to just get started again slowly,not to over do it since I was still getting over being sick.  By Friday morning (Nov. 4th ) the day I was suppose to run again, I was beginning to itch a little and I wasn't able to begin the workout plan that Rick had updated for me. It wasn't real bad so I didn't go back to the doctor but it is really bad again.  My mom may take me back to the doctor today, I also feel real achy and sore. I didn't even go to church today. Hopefully I will be back to running soon.

 I went back to the doctor today!  Yeah everything is fine.  My hives are gone and I can get back to running and I can go to basketball tryouts.  I finished my last Prednisone today.

I emailed Rick and told him the doctor said I could start to do a little more now. He said I should start with a weight training tomorrow and then begin on Sat & Sunday with jogging 4 min and then walking 1 min.doing that for the amount of time the program says.  I'm looking forward to beginning again.

I'm feeling better and the hives are going away.  I can not tryout out for basketball today but my mom is going to let me go watch. Maybe I can play tomorrow if my doctors appointment is okay.

So, in my last post I said I went to the doctor for hives/rash and feeling really achy.  Well it only got worse.  My lip kept swelling and my mom had to talk to the doctor about 10 more times, he finally said I should go to the ER.  So around 10:45  my and I went to the hospital in Greer.  They asked  me a lot of the same questions that the doctor did and they gave me another shot, this time in the stomach. They also gave me an IV with Benadryl to stop the reaction (swelling in my lip). They told me to go ahead and take the medicine the other doctor had prescribed (Prednisone, & zantac) and follow up with him on Wednesday like I was suppose to. They felt that I must have eaten something that I was allergic to.  They also have me a prescription for two EpiPens in case I have another severe allergic reaction.  Those are the things you have to jab into your own leg.  I don't think that would be fun.   We did not get home from the hospital until around 3:30 or 4:00. I can not run right now I have to wait until the doctor clears me on Wednesday.  Basketball tryouts are suppose to start tomorrow but I can not go because of this.  My mom called the coach to explain that I wanted to tryout but I would not be able to play until the doctor cleared me.. Maybe I can at least go watch  tryouts.

Sick

Hey everyone, today is Sunday, I went to the doctor and he said I was very dehydrated and I need to drink a lot of fluids. He also said I had a virus which was causing the hives.They gave me a shot of something (some kind of steroid) in my hip and told me to drink more and to come back on Wednesday.They took x-rays and a lot of blood work (they had to poke me like 4 times). He said I shouldn't do any long distance running until I see him again. They gave me a shot and now its swelling up my lip. This should be an interesting week.

Today I'm very very tired. I can barley walk because of the hills that I did yesterday. I haven't had much to eat today but iv'e drank a lot of water. I am also very tired. I'm really not in the mood at all to work out but I need to.

Today I ran 3 miles and I am very tired. Tomorrow will be probably harder. I need sleep.

Today was an off day in my training.  I did not have to run today.  I had my sports physical to make sure everything was good for me to tryout for basketball and to do my running.  my weight was 220lbs and the nurse measured me at 5'11 which I think is so funny because I'm really 6'1".  She was standing on her tiptoes and could not reach how high I was so she pulled the measuring thing down to read it and said I was 5"11.  The doctor said everything was good.

Today wasn't as hard as yesterday. I'm still sore form yesterday but I expected that to happen. Today I rode a bike for 20 minutes which was about 6.4 miles and I also worked out my legs for 20 minutes which was very hard because they were very sore.

First Day

Yesterday  the forerunner (my running watch) came in through the mail. I set it up and it seems to be working fine. Today As I was suppose to, I ran 3 miles. It was very tiring but It felt good. My shoes did great and they helped the normal back pain that I have when running on treadmills. The watch did great as well except I need to put it on indoor mode instead of satellite when running inside because it didn't record distance. My calf's were the only thing really sore today so that is good. Great start!

Over these last few days I have had a lot to do. But we still have managed to get shoes and socks for running. Dr. Rick Kattouf has sent me an email that has everything I need to do for the rest of this month and I think even the rest of couple of months I haven't looked at all of it yet. I am waiting on my running watch to come in, we ordered it this week.  I am suppose to get started on next Monday and I am very ready!

Mentor Meeting

On Tuesday of this week I had a mentor meeting at my school. We met my mentor at the meeting. The meeting wasn't very long but afterward we talked for a good while. My mentors name is Dr. Rick Kattouf, he is a very well know trainer and runner and he trains and runs through-out the world. He has done several ironmans and many other races. This is just a few achievements that he has accomplished. His website is www.teamkattouf.com. He told me that I am not going to be able to run my first race in October but rather in January because he doesn't want me to get injured. He told me all the supplies that I am going to need to be able to run well and not get hurt. This is going to be very exciting and fun journey.

 I have worked very hard for the past 12 years of my life to do my school work and to pass each grade.  I had really hoped that I would be able to take it a little easier this year, take the final classes I needed to graduate, play basketball and have a good time.   At my school Greer Middle College Charter High Schoool (GMC) all seniors have to complete a senior project.  After much thought over the summer, I thought it would be neat to begin a workout routine to change my body composition, however, the committee that reviews the proposals did not approve mine because they said it was not enough of a stretch for me since I'm already an athlete.  So I had to try to figure out another idea. I wanted to do something with physical fitness because that is where my interest is and they said we should pick something that we could stay interested in for the whole year.   So I decided to run a half marathon.  They approved this idea with a few changes / additions. They recommended running multiple half marathons and trying to improve my time with each race.  I agreed to this and then began looking a  for mentor.  I was very lucky that my parents know a wonderful man named Rick Kattouf who was a personal fitness coach.  We talked with him and he has agreed to work with me to help me train for the three half marathons. Today I am going to the mentor meeting to meet Rick for the first time. As of right now I am going to run 3 half marathons, 1 at the end of this month, one in January  and one in April. I am going to learn a lot tonight.